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Exported Reactor Operational
China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) announced on Monday that its first exported complete reactor, the 300-megawatt Chashma Nuclear Power Plant in Pakistan, has officially begun partial operation and was connected to the power grid last week.
The operation signifies that the construction of the nuclear project, begun in August 1993, has entered the final phase, a CNNC report indicated.
After a series of power grade and reactor behaviour tests, the nuclear power plant is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2000, the report said.
CNNC and China Nuclear Engineering-Construction Corporation are in charge of providing all of the plant's equipment.
According to the report, the Chinese companies will give control of the plant to Pakistan after the full-power operation stabilizes.
A Xinhua story quoted a Pakistan official as saying the Chashma plant has been built in accordance with standards set by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Pervalz Butt, an official from the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, said the project was as safe as any nuclear power plant in advanced countries.
The Chashma plant has a pressurized water reactor with a very thick special steel pressure vessel and a three-foot thick pre-stressed concrete containment unit, said Butt.
"All these arrangements completely prevent any escape of radioactivity to the environment should an incident take place,'' he said.
A CNNC official said the corporation has launched international co-operation with more than 40 countries and areas.
Besides the Pakistan project, CNNC also has exported nuclear fuel and mini-reactors to some countries, the official said.
To help ease the energy bottleneck and diversify its energy mix, China has developed its nuclear power industry in last decade.
The Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant in Zhejiang Province, with a capacity of 300 megawatts, successfully took into operation in 1991. It is the first nuclear power equipment designed, manufactured and operated completely by China.
The total installed capacity of China's nuclear power sector has reached 2,100 megawatts. China produces around 14 billion kilowatt-hours annually, or 1 per cent of the country's total power output, much lower than the world average of 17 per cent.
Four nuclear power plants, with the total installed capacity of 6,600 megawatts, are under construction in China.
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